Miss World bikini ban: why it's no victory for feminists

Something about the news that Miss World organisers have axed the famed bikinis from this year's pageant, amid mounting protests from hardline Muslim groups, doesn't sit quite right. Dr Brooke Magnanti, no fan of beauty pageants, explains why.

Miss England: the London-based Miss World Organisation has agreed to the request out of respect for the traditional customs and values of Indonesia Photo: PA

At this time of year, there is probably no more depressing question than "Are you bikini ready?" It is the opening salvo of a thousand grim magazine features, an echo chamber of self-loathing and fat-free yogurt dressed up as indulgence. Well, for this year's Miss World entrants, that vile utterance at least is one thing they won't have to hear. With concerns about offending some Muslims in Indonesia, the contest's organisers have agreed that this year the women will wear sarongs instead.

_{Get ready for those adverts}

As it turns out, it is not the first time the contest has faced objection from conservative religious groups and altered as a result. It began in 1951 as a bikini show for the Festival of Britain and was quickly dubbed 'Miss World' by the tabloids. The first winner, Kiki Hakansson from Sweden, was condemned by the Pope for her efforts and became the only Miss World ever to be crowned in her bikini… though not the last to sport swimwear on her victory lap. Miss World 1966, Reita Faria of India, was crowned in a modest black one-piece in 1966. (And very fetching it looked with a cape and sceptre too.)

Bikinis made a reappearance in later years and more controversy followed. In the 1970s and 1980s the contest was regularly picketed by feminist protestors, because let's face it a contest that started as a bikini show is unlikely to hold much appeal for that crowd. It disappeared from terrestrial broadcasts and was only semi-successfully revived - for the British pubic, anyway - a decade later.

Elsewhere it is still hugely popular. You can't go to a Bollywood opening without tripping over several dozen ex-Miss Worlds, I'm pretty sure Venezuela actually has a law requiring women to enter it. Believe it or not, the Miss World competition is still centred on Britain and the winner traditionally lives in London during the year of her resign. Various objections to the contest have meant that while it enjoys success worldwide, it was last broadcast on UK televisions in 1998.

_{Miss World 2012 winner Yu Wenxia}
Why the fuss over ladies in small swimsuits? It is, despite some desperate 1990s rebranding, still primarily a pony show. No doubt there are some brainy women in the roster of past winners - Aishwarya Rai would not still be the megastar she is today if she didn't have grey matter to spare - but any claims to judging 'beauty with a purpose' are (if you'll pardon the pun) purely cosmetic.
Personally, I'd love to see bikinis on more women, not fewer. We are so often ashamed of our bodies and think going for a dip on a hot summer's day is something that need to be dieted and exercised for, as if the enjoyment of cooling off is only for the thin and the young. Why not be comfortable and stylish if a bikini's what you fancy?
So there are plenty of reasons not to like beauty pageants - which means the recent announcement is great news, right? Well, not really. While no great fan of pageants there's something about this that rubs the wrong way. For some time it's been clear that the interests and tactics of certain types of feminism and certain types of religious fundamentalism not only converge, but seem to complement each other.
The consultation resulting from Rhoda Grant's upcoming bill in Scottish Parliament hoping to "end demand" for sex work, for example, are dominated by radical women's groups and conservative church members. Sometimes when it comes to the far right and the far left, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Especially where sex might be involved.
And it continues to be surprising that many feminists seem to have no great problem with this. Sure, the ends some wanted have been achieved. Bikinis gone thanks to the Pope or Muslims or whoever it is this time. But at what cost? As they say where I come from (the US), ‘you gotta to dance with the one who brung you’. Such dirty alliances always, always, come with a hidden cost. It doesn't take much imagination to see what outcome religious conservatives of any faith are aiming for when they order the womenfolk to cover up.
Will the sarong-clad competitors in Jakarta this year make any great swing one way or the other as to the future of flashing the flesh? In all likelihood not. But it is interesting to see a contest that previously felt the wrath of 1970s feminists now coming under fire from the small, but vocal, fringe of religious practice in Indonesia.
Meanwhile I'm off to the beach in my customary wetsuit… but if Scotland had the climate of Indonesia, you can bet I'd be out there in my two-piece in solidarity.